Vindicated
by caliste07
Summary: A meeting in Florence, Italy. Throw in lots of wine, crazy matchmaking friends and a night of passion. They were meant to be together until fate stepped in to interfere. Lovers till they found out about their hidden family history.


Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the other characters. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Title: Vindicated

Chapter 1: To start the ball rolling

Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome, a bit of Miroku/Sango

Sango Taichi watched in exasperation as the young woman beside her emitted what must have been the one thousandth sigh for the day.

"Kagome Higurashi! Honestly, this is supposed to be a _holiday_ for the both of us. Not some kind of _pity party_ that you seem to want to throw for yourself!"

"I'm sorry, Sango. It's just that seeing all these couples parading their love in front of me just makes me think back about all the times we used to have. Kouga said he would bring me here one day on a holiday but…" Kagome trailed off. Thinking about Kouga was too painful.

Sango watched as her best friend looked away from the young teenage couple in front of them who were obviously not in the least bit embarrassed to be groping each other in public. Sango had organized this trip to Florence, Italy in the hope that it would help to take Kagome's mind off that two-timing cheating asshole, Kouga Ookami. So far however, things were not working at all. Walking in on Kouga in bed with another woman had definitely been a huge blow to Kagome.

Just yesterday, Sango had suggested that they go shopping. Six hours later, they'd finally returned to their hotel rooms, laden with numerous shopping bags. Today, decked out in their new purchases, they were currently sitting at a neat little café, sipping iced tea while waiting for Miroku Houshi, her boyfriend.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her behind and she knew he'd finally arrived. A couple of minutes later, the three of them were tucking into lunch with Miroku sporting a red handprint on his left cheek.

"Kagome, it's been so long since I've last seen you! You look amazing, by the way. I like what you've done to your hair," Miroku said as he rubbed his cheek gingerly.

Kagome smiled and ran her fingers through her hair. She'd decided to let her hair grow out and now it was halfway down her back already. It was Kouga who'd persuaded her to keep her hair long. '_Stop it_,' Kagome told herself firmly. She knew that Sango, bless the girl, had dragged her on this little trip to help her get over Kouga. But all she had succeeded in doing so far was bore Sango with her constant mooning over Kouga.

"Thanks. I see that you've hardly changed a single bit though. Why do you always insist on your er…rather unusual way of greeting women?" Kagome asked, as she forked pasta into her mouth. Sango gave a rather unladylike snort as she lifted her glass to her lips.

Miroku smiled. "Ladies, you just don't understand. It's a curse, I tell you. Been in the family for years. My ancestors were cursed with the wandering hand, leaving them with no choice but to-"he stopped upon seeing the glare that Sango was currently sending his way. "So, I heard about Kouga. Forget him darling, someone who cheats on you isn't worth your tears."

"See, Kagome, I've told you that you should chuck that bastard right out of your mind. Personally, if I were you, I would probably castrate that lying cad." Sango said. "Wouldn't you do the same, Miroku?"

Kagome laughed as she watched Miroku blanched. "That's a _little_ extreme, love." Sango raised her brow. "But under such circumstances, it can be considered, I guess."

Trying to steer the topic away from extreme pain and a man's nether regions, Miroku had a sudden idea. "Hey, why don't we go clubbing tonight? I can introduce you to some of my friends and Kagome, you'll be sure to get over Kouga. Not that I'm gay but these Italian guys can be really hot."

"I don't think that's such a good idea. I'm not here to have some random hook-up with strangers."

"I think Miroku's right, Kagome. They can't really be considered strangers since they're his friends. It'll be the perfect way for you to dump Kouga out of your life." Sango said excitedly. Being the owner of the renowned matchmaking agency, Ardor, any prospect of matchmaking especially when it involved her best friend was a sure thing to get her excited. Turning to Miroku, she said," You better tell your friends to be careful tonight because I'm going to make sure that Kagome will be the hottest lady there."

"Seriously, you guys."

"Hey, are you _even_ listening to me?" Kagome said helplessly. It was no use. The both of them were too far gone in their land of matchmaking. She buried her head in her hands. What had she gotten herself into?

Inuyasha Takahashi growled under his breath. The loud music blasting away from the speakers were hurting his ears. He was going to murder Miroku for persuading him to come and picking a table right next to those damn speakers.

Someone bumped into him from behind. He whirled around, ready to yell at the person for not watching where he was going. Instead, he was just in time to catch a young lady in his arms just as she was about to fall. She had inky black hair and when she opened her eyes, he found himself staring into a pair of blue-green eyes. His throat felt dry and when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.

His gaze moved down to her lips and judging by how they were moving, she was probably saying something. "You'll have to speak up! I can barely hear a single word over the sound of this music!" Inuyasha shouted as he let go of her.

Before she could answer, another voice rang loud and clear beside his ear. "Hey, I guess you've finally met! Inuyasha, this lovely lady here is Kagome Higurashi. Kagome, Inuyasha Takahashi." Miroku set the drinks on the table top, a wide grin on his face,

"Hi. So you're the lovely Kagome that Miroku's been going on about over the phone just now?" Inuyasha said, as he extended his hand towards her. Her hand felt small and slender in his.

Kagome smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"I heard about what happened to you and your boyfriend. I'm sorry."

"MIROKU! Do you have to go around announcing to everybody in the world that I'm a poor little girl who has just found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her!" Kagome yelled. "I cannot believe this."

Sango who had returned from her trip to the ladies appeared just in time to watch Kagome stomp out of the club. "Do I even want to hear what just happened here?"

"I guess it's my fault really. I should have thought about it before telling a complete stranger that I know all about her love life." Inuyasha said. "I'll go after her and apologize."

"Wait. I think I should go. After all, the both of you barely know each other." Sango said, standing up as well.

Inuyasha shook his head. "Let me go. It started with me. Anyway, she does seem really sweet." With that, he turned and strode out of the crowded place.

Sango turned to Miroku, a smile on her face. "Miroku, you genius! I think he likes her! Trust you to come up with such a plan. How do you know that things would turn out this way?"

Miroku smirked and let her onto the dance floor. "It wasn't hard. Inuyasha doesn't think before he speaks and Kagome well…can get a little huffy at times."

"And so that's really the gist of what happened." Kagome polished off the last of her wine and set the glass down on the table. She looked at her watch. 11.50. She'd been pouring out all her woes to Inuyasha for almost 2 hours.

Kagome looked at the man sitting opposite her. His golden eyes were fixed intently on her face. And his long silver hair! She wanted to ask him if it was natural or if his hairdresser was simply too good. She had to give him credit for sitting so patiently with her and listening to her for so long.

Inuyasha watched Kagome as she looked at him. Her cherry red lips glistened under the dim light and her cheeks were slightly flushed. He didn't know if it was from the wine she'd consumed or because he was staring at her. He smirked inwardly as he thought of the latter reason.

'_I must be crazy. I've just met her and already I feel as though I've known her before. A long time ago.' _

"What? Is there something on my face?" Kagome asked. She couldn't stand that golden gaze on her any longer. The way he was looking at her made her feel…feel…well…_hot_. And that was just ridiculous. She'd just met this guy. It must have been the wine.

Inuyasha smiled at her and she felt her heart beat a little faster. "Nothing. I was just thinking that Kouga must be really blind." He leaned forward and took her chin in his hands. "I would never do that to you, Kagome."

Kagome's eyes fluttered shut as she felt his lips touch hers. _Kouga who?_ she thought as Inuyasha sucked her bottom lip gently and slipped his tongue into her mouth.


End file.
